Medina Twp. violated Sunshine Laws, attorney argues
Terms of dissolving fire department may have been improperly discussed in private
Medina Township Trustee Ken DeMichael (right) testified during a June 26 hearing in the courtroom of Judge Joyce Kimbler (left) on his involvement in the drafting of a contract that would have the Medina Fire Department take over the township department. Photo by ALLISON WOOD
MEDINA – The attorney for the Medina Township Firefighters Association argued the township violated the state’s Sunshine Laws by improperly discussing terms of a contract with the city of Medina in private that would give control of the township fire department’s equipment and stations to the Medina Fire Department during a June 26 hearing in Medina County Common Pleas Court.
“This is basically a usage agreement,” said attorney John Oberholtzer, representing the fire association. “This is, in effect, a move to abolish the department.”
The Medina Township Firefighters Association filed a restraining order to stop trustees from voting on the contract, which would likely involve most of the department’s 40 firefighters losing their jobs as MFD said they would likely hire back between 12 and 15 firefighters.
Medina City Council had approved the contract June 12 and was scheduled to be approved by trustees June 15 before the temporary restraining order was granted by Common Pleas Judge Joyce Kimbler.
Witnesses testified during the hearing that no discussion on the contract had occurred at any public township meeting; at that time, Mayor Dennis Hanwell was scheduled to make a presentation on the issue, but was canceled due to the restraining order.
During the hearing, Trustee Bill Ostmann testified he alone met with Medina city officials, including Mayor Dennis Hanwell, to negotiate the contract, but that Trustees Ray Jarrett and Ken DeMichael met individually with Hanwell later. Ostmann said it was done this way because any time changes to the fire department are proposed, “the fire association goes out with a bunch of misinformation and kills it.”
“You’re going to talk to the mayor and the other trustees have no clue?” asked Oberholtzer to Ostmann.
According to the Sunshine Laws, if more than one trustee needs to discuss township business, it must be done so during a previously announced public meeting; if issues such as contract negotiations need to be discussed in private (executive session), trustees must announce the reasons they are doing so and if anyone else is being invited into the discussion. Adhering to the Sunshine Laws was cited as a reason for having individual meetings between trustees and others in private.
Any decisions made during the executive session must be voted on publicly after returning to the public portion of the meeting.
Ostmann also testified the trustees had never discussed the contract together during a public meeting or at any other time. The June 15 meeting was when public discussion was supposed to occur.
Ostmann said he started negotiations with the city several months ago after meeting with township fire officials, who he said gave costly proposals to build a new station and wanted an agreement stating no fire district with another department would ever be formed.
On June 9, Ostmann issued a statement placed on the township’s website stating several options regarding the department had been discussed, including a new fire station, full-time staffing and a fire district, which he claimed were discussed in open public meeting.
Ostmann also told The Post in an interview he is in favor of the contract. Hanwell told The Post he was approached by Ostmann and Jarrett late in 2016 in reference to the fire district idea.
Trustee Ken DeMichael testified during the hearing he was not involved in the contract negotiations or knew about the terms until receiving a final draft in his township mailbox around June 1. He later met with the city administration himself to discuss it.
“I never discussed the issue with trustees before this,” DeMichael said.
Due to a scheduled vacation, he said he would not have been able to vote on the contract at the June 15 meeting.
Fire Capt. Mark Roberts, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, testified he and many other firefighters were not informed the department might close until June 5. He and other department members previously met individually with trustees, in order to avoid being in violation of Sunshine Laws, to discuss the future of the department but dissolving the department was not brought up.
“This was never one of the options discussed,” Roberts said.
Also discussed during Roberts’ testimony was the June 6 memo by the township sent to the Medina Life Support Team, who provides the township’s EMS services, and area departments informing them of the department’s takeover by Medina Fire; however, there was a disclosure stating the contract still had to be voted on by both the city and township.
City and township officials have said the agreement would save the township nearly $400,000 a year (township would pay $230,000 per year to city), improve response times and possibly lower residents’ house insurance rates as the city has a higher ISO rating than the township. The township’s fire department is funded by a continuous levy last passed by voters in 2003.
Kimbler ordered the parties to submit written closing arguments by July 3 and the restraining order was extended until July 13. She added the order only prohibits a vote on the contract, with trustees allowed to discuss it during a public meeting if they chose.
Others testifying during the hearing were Fiscal Officer Angela Ventura and Mark Radice, a firefighter also named as a plaintiff.
Jarrett was not called to testify.
“This is basically a usage agreement,” said attorney John Oberholtzer, representing the fire association. “This is, in effect, a move to abolish the department.”
The Medina Township Firefighters Association filed a restraining order to stop trustees from voting on the contract, which would likely involve most of the department’s 40 firefighters losing their jobs as MFD said they would likely hire back between 12 and 15 firefighters.
Medina City Council had approved the contract June 12 and was scheduled to be approved by trustees June 15 before the temporary restraining order was granted by Common Pleas Judge Joyce Kimbler.
Witnesses testified during the hearing that no discussion on the contract had occurred at any public township meeting; at that time, Mayor Dennis Hanwell was scheduled to make a presentation on the issue, but was canceled due to the restraining order.
During the hearing, Trustee Bill Ostmann testified he alone met with Medina city officials, including Mayor Dennis Hanwell, to negotiate the contract, but that Trustees Ray Jarrett and Ken DeMichael met individually with Hanwell later. Ostmann said it was done this way because any time changes to the fire department are proposed, “the fire association goes out with a bunch of misinformation and kills it.”
“You’re going to talk to the mayor and the other trustees have no clue?” asked Oberholtzer to Ostmann.
According to the Sunshine Laws, if more than one trustee needs to discuss township business, it must be done so during a previously announced public meeting; if issues such as contract negotiations need to be discussed in private (executive session), trustees must announce the reasons they are doing so and if anyone else is being invited into the discussion. Adhering to the Sunshine Laws was cited as a reason for having individual meetings between trustees and others in private.
Any decisions made during the executive session must be voted on publicly after returning to the public portion of the meeting.
Ostmann also testified the trustees had never discussed the contract together during a public meeting or at any other time. The June 15 meeting was when public discussion was supposed to occur.
Ostmann said he started negotiations with the city several months ago after meeting with township fire officials, who he said gave costly proposals to build a new station and wanted an agreement stating no fire district with another department would ever be formed.
On June 9, Ostmann issued a statement placed on the township’s website stating several options regarding the department had been discussed, including a new fire station, full-time staffing and a fire district, which he claimed were discussed in open public meeting.
Ostmann also told The Post in an interview he is in favor of the contract. Hanwell told The Post he was approached by Ostmann and Jarrett late in 2016 in reference to the fire district idea.
Trustee Ken DeMichael testified during the hearing he was not involved in the contract negotiations or knew about the terms until receiving a final draft in his township mailbox around June 1. He later met with the city administration himself to discuss it.
“I never discussed the issue with trustees before this,” DeMichael said.
Due to a scheduled vacation, he said he would not have been able to vote on the contract at the June 15 meeting.
Fire Capt. Mark Roberts, one of the plaintiffs in the suit, testified he and many other firefighters were not informed the department might close until June 5. He and other department members previously met individually with trustees, in order to avoid being in violation of Sunshine Laws, to discuss the future of the department but dissolving the department was not brought up.
“This was never one of the options discussed,” Roberts said.
Also discussed during Roberts’ testimony was the June 6 memo by the township sent to the Medina Life Support Team, who provides the township’s EMS services, and area departments informing them of the department’s takeover by Medina Fire; however, there was a disclosure stating the contract still had to be voted on by both the city and township.
City and township officials have said the agreement would save the township nearly $400,000 a year (township would pay $230,000 per year to city), improve response times and possibly lower residents’ house insurance rates as the city has a higher ISO rating than the township. The township’s fire department is funded by a continuous levy last passed by voters in 2003.
Kimbler ordered the parties to submit written closing arguments by July 3 and the restraining order was extended until July 13. She added the order only prohibits a vote on the contract, with trustees allowed to discuss it during a public meeting if they chose.
Others testifying during the hearing were Fiscal Officer Angela Ventura and Mark Radice, a firefighter also named as a plaintiff.
Jarrett was not called to testify.